Rebinding

These are two batches of rebinds I worked on. I toned some PC4 paper lightly with acrylics and wanted to use it for quarter rebinds.

WNYBAC

I have recently moved to the Buffalo area as part of my efforts to get into graduate school (now for library science). In looking for ways to keep my hands in the book arts, I came across the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative. I am going to start interning there next week and the focus of my blog will shift slightly from conservation. I still have some images from Syracuse University to post, and I plan to post occasional conservation work. However, my duties at the WNYBAC will focus more on cataloging the organization's library, zine collection and type face. I will also be helping with exhibitions and possibly assisting in the print studio. This internship will allow me to take courses at a discounted rate and gain access to the tools, paper, etc. I will also have the opportunity to teach workshops in the spring.
I am really excited about this. And because my posts will be including more variety, I am changing the title of my blog to "Book In Hand." It's vague, but I think that kind of title works better for a blog that will now encompass several areas of the book arts.

Limp Leather Binding - Black

This was another sewing variation I tried. This technique requires signatures in multiples of three. Rather than adding an additional piece of leather to wrap around, I added a leather button.
This is the end result.

Limp Leather Binding - Teal

This summer I have been working on hand outs to use for teaching workshops. One of which, is for a limp binding. I researched some new sewing variations for the hand outs. This particular variation requires the number of signatures to be in multiples of three.

 As can be seen from my sewing card, you need access to all three signatures at the same time. To achieve this, I used clips to keep the two outer signatures in position, and rubber bands to secure the middle signature.

This is the end result.

Altered Book Workshop

This past Saturday, I was able to attend an altered book workshop at Syracuse University. It was a lot of fun, and I have to confess that I have been folding pages ever since. I wanted to post a couple pictures. First is me with the book I folded at S.U.

And these are some of the books I have folded since.

Ranke Rebind

I found this book in the Ranke collection, in Special Collections at Syracuse University. Both joints were broken and the boards loose. The leather was missing at the corners and what remained appeared to be only the flesh side. 

 

 

I soaked the front board in a warm water bath to float off the original book plates. While that soaked, I scraped the old leather off the spine with a cobbler's knife. I covered the spine with methyl cellulose to remove excess glue or linings. Then I lined the spine with Japanese tissue and linen, and added new end bands and end papers.
I cut new boards, and sanded them down to fit against the shoulder. I attached them to the text block with the linen lining. Then I cut a new piece of leather for the spine, and parred the edges. I attached this leather to the spine with paste, as a tight back. After gluing down the turn-ins, I constructed head caps and pressed the book overnight.
Once the new leather was set, I trimmed what overlapped onto the boards and then infilled the board with 10 pt. Next, I covered the board with paste paper, overlapping slightly on the leather. When the paste paper was dry, I trimmed the turn-ins and infilled the inside of the boards. Finally, I glued down the end papers and reattached the original book plates with paste. This was the end result.

The Bone Folder

The Bone Folder is a recorded conversation between a bibliophile and master book binder from 1920"s Germany. My book binding instructor translated the text from it's original German, and gave me a copy for binding. I chose to covering it in a paper case because the text block was small, and this binding style is briefly discussed in the text.

The text block was sewn with two pieces of card for end sheets. The paste paper is folded around the card for support. This is an adhesive free binding, so the paper could be easily removed and the text block rebound if desired. If the cover was folded out, this is how the book would look.